Saturday, May 30, 2015

This was my fourth year attending BEA and it was another really successful year. I loved seeing so many bloggers and authors again as well as meeting new ones. The showfloor was
organized a bit differently than it has been in the past, but I think it
helped space things out a lot better. I especially loved the way that
Penguin Random House ran their in booth signings. They were really well organized.

I only attended for a few hours on Thursday, but I did get to meet Margo Rabb and Kirsten Hubbard. Both authors were so kind and I was especially excited to meet Kirsten Hubbard because Wanderlove is one of my top favorite books. On Thursday I also stopped over at the Litograph booth where they were giving out temporary tattoos with quotes from a book. After you chose a random tattoo out of a bowl, they would photograph it and post it to the wall in order of the story. I got one from The Tell Tale Heart. They had so many cool posters and you can order literary temporary tattoos online. I definitely plan on ordering some things from their site.

Overall it was another great year! Thank you to all of the amazing publishers and authors. I especially want to thank Harper Collins, Disney, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Scholastic, Abrams, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Macmillan, Harlequin, Simon Schuster, and Sourcebooks.

(If you would like to see pictures of the books I picked up you can find them on my Instagram or on my Twitter (@thereadinggeek))

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Light of DayBy: Allison van DiepenRelease Date: November 24, 2015Like any other Saturday
night, Gabby Perez and her best friend, Maria, are out dancing. But
this isn’t just another night. When a mysterious stranger warns Gabby
their drinks have been drugged, she hurries Maria home. Sure enough, the
next day, Maria can’t remember a thing. Gabby’s shaken by their close
call. And she’s not going to stay quiet about it. She opens up
the airwaves on her radio show and discovers an even worse truth: the
guy who drugged them was going to force them into prostitution. Then
Gabby’s friend Bree never makes it home from a party, and Gabby fears
the worst. Gabby reaches out to the guy who saved her, the
gorgeous stranger she knows only as X. As they dive into the seedy
underworld of Miami, searching for Bree, they can’t ignore their
undeniable attraction. Until Gabby discovers the truth about who X
really is and the danger that surrounds him. Can their love survive the
light of day? (Goodreads)

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Da Vinci's TigerBy: Laura Malone ElliottRelease Date: November 10, 2015Young, beautiful, and
witty, Ginevra de’ Benci longs to take part in the artistic ferment of
Renaissance Florence. But as the daughter of a wealthy family in a
society dictated by men, she is trapped in an arranged marriage,
expected to limit her creativity to domestic duties. Her poetry reveals
her deepest feelings, and she aches to share her work, to meet painters
and sculptors mentored by the famed Lorenzo de Medici, and to find love. When
the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, arrives in
Florence, he introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons,
artists, and philosophers—a world of thought and conversation she has
yearned for. She is instantly attracted to the handsome newcomer, who
admires her mind as well as her beauty. Yet Ginevra remains conflicted
about his attentions. Choosing her as his Platonic muse, Bembo
commissions a portrait by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Posing for the
brilliant painter inspires an intimate connection between them—one
Ginevra can only begin to understand. In a rich and enthralling world of
exquisite art, elaborate feasts, and exhilarating jousts, she faces
many temptations to discover her voice, artistic companionship, and a
love that defies categorization. In the end, she and Leonardo are caught
up in a dangerous and deadly battle between powerful families. (Goodreads)

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

The Lies About Truth By: Courtney C. StevensRelease Date: November 3, 2015Sadie Kingston, is a
girl living in the aftermath. A year after surviving a car accident that
killed her friend Trent and left her body and face scarred, she can’t
move forward. The only person who seems to understand her is Trent’s
brother, Max. As Sadie begins to fall for Max, she's unsure if
she is truly healed enough to be with him — even if Max is able to look
at her scars and not shy away. But when the truth about the accident and
subsequent events comes to light, Sadie has to decide if she can
embrace the future or if she'll always be trapped in the past. (Goodreads)

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Fill-In BoyfriendBy: Kasie WestReleased: May 5, 2015Source: PurchasedPurchase the Book: AmazonWhen Gia Montgomery's
boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school
prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends
about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved
he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister,
she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two
hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back
the real Bradley. The problem is that days after prom, it's not
the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose
name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're
done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends
to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three
hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. Just when Gia begins to
wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley
comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to
destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship. (Goodreads)

The Fill-In Boyfriend has taken the number one spot as my favorite contemporary story of the year. I loved Kasie West's previous contemporary books so I have been counting down the days until The Fill-In Boyfriend was released.

The Fill-In Boyfriend is the story of Gia who is dumped by her boyfriend in the parking lot at prom. She enlists the help of a guy who is waiting for his sister to pretend to be her boyfriend. In return, Gia will owe her fake boyfriend a favor.

Gia was a really well developed character. She learns a lot about herself through the course of this book. She isn't perfect, but she acknowledges her mistakes. West did a great job with portraying that phase of trying to figure out the type of person you want to be. Gia is growing up and her perspective on the world is shifting. She realizes that maybe the person she has been needs to change and that her family isn't as perfect as she always thought. West realistically depicted how people can grow apart too. I also loved the side characters just as much as I loved Gia. They were each very well developed.

The plot was fun, cute, and dramatic. I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. I just became so quickly invested in the lives of these characters. I love West's writing because I really think she does a great job at capturing the teen voice and the types of things that they deal with on a daily basis. I found myself writing down so many quotes.

Overall I loved The Fill-In Boyfriend! I especially loved that the theme of this story was growing up. This has definitely become my favorite Kasie West book. I can't recommend picking up this book enough!My Rating:

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Cut Both WaysBy: Carrie MesrobianRelease Date: September 1, 2015Will Caynes never has
been good with girls. At seventeen, he’s still waiting for his first
kiss. He’s certainly not expecting it to happen in a drunken make-out
session with his best friend, Angus. But it does and now Will’s
conflicted—he knows he likes girls, but he didn’t exactly hate kissing a
guy. Then Will meets Brandy, a cute and easy-to-talk-to
sophomore. He’s totally into her too—which proves, for sure, that he’s
not gay. So why does he keep hooking up with Angus on the sly? Will
knows he can’t keep seeing both of them, but besides his new job in a
diner, being with Brandy and Angus are the best parts of his whole
messed-up life. His divorced parents just complicate everything. His
father, after many half-baked business ventures and endless house
renovations, has started drinking again. And his mom is no help—unless
loading him up with a bunch of stuff he doesn’t need plus sticking him
with his twin half-sisters counts as parenting. He’s been bouncing
between both of them for years, and neither one feels like home. Deciding who to love, who to choose, where to live. Whichever way Will goes, someone will get hurt. Himself, probably the most. (Goodreads)

Monday, May 4, 2015

Every Last PromiseBy: Kristin HalbrookReleased: April 21, 2015Source: PublisherPurchase the Book: Amazon*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest reviewKayla saw something at
the party that she wasn't supposed to. But she hasn't told anyone. No
one knows the real story about what happened that night—about why Kayla
was driving the car that ran into a ditch after the party, about what
she saw in the hours leading up to the accident, and about the promise
she made to her friend Bean before she left for the summer. Now
Kayla's coming home for her senior year. If Kayla keeps quiet, she might
be able to get her old life back. If she tells the truth, she risks
losing everything—and everyone—she ever cared about. (Goodreads)I liked Every Last Promise. It was a very realistic story about not knowing whether or not to speak up.Every Last Promise is the story of Kayla who saw something at a party before she drove a car into the ditch. She still hasn't told anyone about what she saw or why she was in that car in the first place.

Kayla is a realistic and well developed character. She loves her friends and the town she has grown up in. She just wants things to be like they were before the night of the car accident. She always had this plan to stay in her town, but things are different now and she has to decide whether or not to do the right thing. Kayla isn't always a very likable character, but I'm not one to mind an unlikable character all that much though. In this case it really makes you take a step back and think about what the bigger picture regarding the decisions she makes.

I liked that the plot alternated between the present and the past. It helped move the story along and slowly revealed everything that happened the night of the accident. It also developed Kayla's love for her town. I just still feel like I wanted a bit more from this story though. I would have liked for some aspects of the story to have been slowed down and given the chance to develop more. I especially would have liked to see the side characters developed further because her friends all blurred together for me.

Overall I liked Every Last Promise. This book definitely made me question a lot. It was a realistic story about deciding between doing the right thing or staying quiet.

Disclaimer

All reviews published on this blog are based on books that I have either purchased myself or received from an author or publisher in exchange for an honest review. It is noted in the review whether I purchased a book myself or received the book from the publisher or author. I receive no compensation from any of the reviews that I publish. Unless otherwise noted, all photos used on this blog are from Google and are not owned by me.